The problem with "patience" is the longer this war takes the more world opinion and middle east opinion turns against us. It's pretty bad now and if it gets worse it can destabilize the "moderate" governments in the region such as Eygpt and Saudi Arabia. It would be ironic if we defeat Saddam only to find radical Islamic anti-American regimes take over currently pro-western countries. Also, the longer the war takes the more likely groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad will actually make good on their promise to send suicide squads to Iraq to kill Americans, and the more the ranks of Al Qaida and similar groups will swell with volunteers.

We certainly have an interest in ending this war quickly and decisively. Unfortunately, Rumsfeld's underwhelming force strategy might well preclude that.
A lot depends on how well our brave forces fight against a numerically superior force in the next several weeks.